Coming in hot off of his Golden Globe nomination for this very role as the highly successful attorney and businessman “Peter,” Hugh Jackman stuns in what I believe could be his best role to date. The Son is a complicated, layered family drama based on a play of the same name by French director Florian Zeller, who gave us the Oscar nominated “The Father” just two years back.
This time co-starring Laura Dern (Big Little Lies) as “Kate,” who plays Hugh Jackman’s needy ex-wife. She unexpectedly shows up on the door step of his and his brand new wife’s, played by Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) with jolting news about their mentally ill son Nicholas. The story takes off from there and let me tell you it is a heavy one! But heavy as in a woven blanket you are all too pleased to get curled up into. “The Son” was intricate to follow and exuded real life situations that we are all (or at least should be) too familiar with in this day and age.
Hugh Jackman was commanding in every single scene he graced. Like the kind of heartfelt role that makes it impossible to turn away. He is a handsome devil to boot, so that doesn’t hurt any.
Anthony Hopkins, although very briefly, portrays Peter’s elderly, successful father, who is also quite overbearing and hard on his son. I find the apple usually does not fall too far from the tree under these kinds of dynamics.
In the end I couldn’t care less again that this film is yet another universal box office bomb numbers-wise. Don’t believe the haters. And by that I mean the critics. Make up your own minds, that after all is the beauty and freedom of independent choice. This “Son” was touching and it was a special film to be remembered.
Christopher’s “Meow” Score: “8” paws out of 10.
